Teatro Colón

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Night shot of the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Argentina

The Teatro Colón (Spanish) (Colón Theatre) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, is one of the world's major opera houses. The present theatre, the second with that name, opened in 1908 after twenty years under construction. The auditorium is horseshoe-shaped, has 2,487 seats (slightly more than, say, the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England), standing room for 1,000 and a stage which is 20 m wide, 15 m high and 20 m deep^[1]. The acoustics are excellent.

The theatre closed for refurbishment at the end of October 2006, with plans to reopen in 2010

The theatre is bounded by the extremely wide 9 de Julio Avenue (technically Cerrito Street), Libertad Street (the main entrance), Arturo Toscanini Street, and Tucumán Street^[2]. It is in the heart of the city on a site once occupied by Ferrocarril Oeste's Plaza Parque station.

Before the construction of the current Teatro Colón, opera performances were given in several theatres, of which the first Teatro Colón (see below) and the Teatro de la Ópera were the most important. The principal company that performed at the Teatro de la Ópera moved to the Teatro Colón in 1908. However, important companies also performed at the Teatro Politeama and the Teatro Coliseo which opened in 1907. For many years Argentina was a prosperous country with a booming economy, and the Teatro Colón was visited by the foremost singers and opera companies of the time, who would sometimes go on to other cities including Montevideo, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.

1 The First Teatro Colón
2 The Present Teatro Colón
3 References
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] The First Teatro Colón

Day shot of the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Argentina

By the mid-1850s, with the flourishing of opera performed by touring companies, the need for a new theatre became obvious. In 1854 alone, 53 different operas were performed in the city. The first Teatro Colón building, located in Plaza de Mayo, was started in 1856 and opened on 27 April 1857 with Verdi’s La Traviata, just four years after its Italian premiere. The theatre was designed by Carlos Enrique Pelligrini, father of the future president of Argentina, Carlos Pellegrini, and proved to be a successful venue for over 30 years, with 2,500 seats and the inclusion of a separate gallery reserved only for women. By the 1880s, the need for a modern facility became apparent and the building was sold to the Banco de la Nación Argentina, with the proceeds used to pay for the construction of a new opera house.

[edit] The Present Teatro Colón

The cornerstone of the present Teatro Colón was laid in 1889 under the direction of architect Francesco Tamburini and his pupil, Vittorio Meano, who designed a theatre in the Italian style on a scale and with amenities which matched those in Europe. However, delays followed due to financial difficulties, arguments regarding the location, the death of Tamburini in 1891, the murder of Meano in 1904 and the death of Angelo Ferrari, an Italian businessman who was the financing the new theatre. The building was finally completed in 1908 under the direction of the Belgium architect Julio Dormal who made some changes in the structure and left his mark in the French style of the decoration.

The theatre opened on 25 May 1908, Día de la Patria in Argentina, with a performance of Verdi’s Aida and it quickly became a world-famous operatic venue rivaling La Scala and the Metropolitan Opera in attracting the best opera singers. Over the years, the Colón Theatre has hosted such great names as Titta Ruffo, Amelita Galli-Curci, Giacomo Lauri-Volpi, Arturo Toscanini, Jane Bathori, Enrico Caruso, Claudia Muzio, Viorica Ursuleac, Maria Callas, Jon Vickers, Norman Treigle, Beverly Sills, John O'Sullivan, Renata Tebaldi, Alfredo Kraus, Plácido Domingo, Ástor Piazzolla, Kirsten Flagstad, Birgit Nilsson, Erich Kleiber, and Luciano Pavarotti.

With excellent acoustics and modern stage areas, the theatre's interior design features a rich scarlet and gold decor. The cupola contains frescoes painted in 1966 by the renowned 20th century artist Raúl Soldi during renovation work.

In recent years, given the political and economic circumstances of Argentina, the Colón Theatre has suffered considerably but has now begun a period of slow recovery. The theatre is presently undergoing phased remodeling, and production activities ceased at the end of October 2006 to allow full refurbishment. The Teatro Colon will be closed until 2012.